Do you think 'Car Modding' is worth it?

[S2]

So what do you think? Personally unless you spend $15,000 on the car, go insane with performance I feel it's not worth it. Sure you get the 'fun' from it for a while but it does fade out and in the end, your getting 'pennies' for what you actually spent on the car. Not to mention all the problems that come up (example FI applications) among other things including legality issues, tickets, BS like that....

So my question is, in your opinion do you feel 'car modding' is a good thing (worth it) or a bad thing (not worth it)?

[Sponsor]

[MySonOptimusPrime]

I think its worth it at the time you get the ideas and execute them. But I have just decided, I'm taking her back to stock. I'm 22, getting engaged in the near future, buying a house, and one day I won't even have that car (they don't last forever). I want to kick my own ass for blowing all that money on all that stuff. I could have traded my car in and got something I really wanted. In the long run it's just not worth it.

[Alex Arce]

i think its worth it.... just a hobby to entertain me.... i always like to push myself and my car to see what i can do.... i guess it calms me down? as MySonOptimusPrime says they dont last forever but i hope my last a lot longer than i expect.... besides this is not my daily driver... have plenty of other cars... so that kind of expands my Roush's life... im not going to be in a financial situation where i need to save a lot of money so for me this works out great... already have a house and engaged so... im set...

[Lil PZEV]

I think it's worth it, but it definitely depends on your definition of worth I think.

It is NOT financially worth it, and anyone who thinks it is is foolish. If you spend a few hundred and expect to win all sorts of shows and national acclaim and sponsors, you're nuts. If you spend several thousand and expect to see a dollar of it back when you sell (provided you don't part out), you're also nuts.

So in that sense, it's absolutely not worth it.

For me, it's a hobby and I enjoy spending time on the car and making it mine. When I have extra money lying around, I spend it on the car because it makes me happy, and I don't really have anything else to throw my money at. It gives me something to do that I have fun with, and it makes my car feel special, to me. So for me personally, I think it's worth it.

[SVT_BMXer]

Like Lil PZEV said, its more a hobby to me, i will find things to do, make something new, build a new speaker box, fix something else, move things around. I have always hated the thought of driving a car EXACTLY like someone else's. Thats why i mod my car so it is different than every other focus out there. Makes it something i can be proud of and have something to show for. perosnally for me, its worth it.

[MyBlackST]

it's fun...so yes it's worth it.

[dgualtie]

i am not really an expert in the area cause i drive a stock svt, but part of the reason why i am not modding is cause my car sees alot of miles and i need to have it running and on the road everyday for job reasons. but on the other hand i have grown up working on cars and bikes and i do enjoy spending time working on them. so if i had a car to mod that i didnt have to worry about drving day in and day out i would probably mod it so to me it would seem worth it.

it is important to rember though that investing in cars is not easy and if you mod one you most likly will not see any of that money come back

[InfraRedZX3]

For me, I intend to do just basic mods and not get into all of the HP engine mods (cams, turbo etc..) With the exception of maybe the SVTs, most stock cars don't come exactly as the buyer would like them so to me, modding allows me to get to where I actually wanted the car to be.

[Trancer]

^ I'm with him. Every time I see a car with nice rims, or expensive brakes, a nice exhaut tone...I never get jealous about 'my Focus not coming with that stuff'...I just think about how I can't wait until my Focus WILL have those things. :)

Everyone has something, a hobby, an obsession, that they put their time and money into...it's an escape, an expression, just about whatever you want it to be. I think it's definitely worth it.

[Carrera26]

On the whole I would rather spend "modding" money on a higher level of car instead of pouring it into one I could never get the investment back out of. I may buy some Konis and R Compounds for SCCA events next year, but that's it.

EDIT:
I do have a different attitude about whatever will become a more dedicated racer than this car. If and when I decide to move out of the stock classes, I will probably spend some serious $$$ on the car to compete and feel fine about it. That's actually better about getting your money back too, because racers buying from racers tend to give that stuff a lot more credit.